Ursa Major
by Calebski
Summary: Sirius absentmindedly lifted his hand to the top of his chest, brushing his warm fingers just under his collarbone to rub the pads against one of his more recent additions. A few tiny dots in comparison to some of his other work, but his most precious, most meaningful by far.


_A/N Random drabble idea that sprang from a conversation with the lovely JasperandGemma,_ bunny _wouldn't leave me alone and became a one-shot. Have cleaned it up and redrafted since posting on_ Tumlbr _:) Happy New Year!_

* * *

Sirius Black had everything he had ever wanted and so much more. There were days when he couldn't believe the happiness that he had been bestowed. Granted he'd had to fight through the worst times possible to get to where he was now but to wake up every morning to his beautiful wife, and most mornings to his young son burrowing in with them was the most protected dream of his heart finally realised. Safe in his new home, far away from the dread of Grimmauld Place or the nightmare of the veil he was allowed to be happy.

But not this morning, this morning he had woken up _alone_. No cascading curls of a brown or black hue. No warm limbs thrown about him haphazardly. No, the other side of the bed was already cold to the touch. Involuntarily he felt fear frisson up his spine; the same twinge he got if they were ever out anywhere and he would turn and not be able to find them, his family. It was his biggest nightmare of course that he would wake up one day and it had all been a dream. He forced himself to remain calm, practising the breathing exercises Hermione had taught him until he could think clearly. As soon as the panic induced fog lifted he remembered. "The park," he whispered aloud, sagging back against the covers. Bear loved the park.

Sirius absentmindedly lifted his hand to the top of his chest, brushing his warm fingers just under his collarbone to rub the pads against one of his more recent additions. A few tiny dots in comparison to some of his other work, but his most precious, most meaningful by far.

He had got it done straight after they had decided on a name, for two people that argued as much as they did there hadn't been a crossed word about that, about their son, and there hadn't been since. They may have agreed on nothing else on earth but always on him. From the moment Hermione had pressed his rough hand to her abdomen and convinced him through a series of choked whispers that she was sure, really, really sure, they had been in complete alignment.

Neither of them had been decided on the idea of a constellation name when Hermione had been pregnant. It felt almost inappropriate to both of them somehow though it nagged away at the back of Sirius' mind. That had been till Luna had intervened, coming over to their new house with her tiny baby in her arms and presenting Hermione with a newly bound copy of 'Constellation Stories', a compendium of all of the mythological tales Pandora Lovegood had told her as a child. Unsurprisingly her versions were a lot more _colourful_ than Sirius remembered from his own grey upbringing. Luna breathed new life into the stories, revitalising them, giving them a meaning beyond what either of them had known before. Hermione had flicked through with a smile on her face as she told her dearest friend that she could have published it, especially with the painstaking illustrations Rolf had included. Luna had sighed, 'they're too precious', she had explained and they had both understood. Hermione handled the parchment even more reverentially after that.

Hermione fell in love with the tale of Ursa Major, 'The Great-Bear' and a compromise was reached. Bear Granger-Black being the result. Sirius quietly confided to Hermione that he felt it was something Reg might have approved of and she had nuzzled under his chin, wrapping her arms around his waist. 'Sky at night for the nursery?' she had whispered, and he had looked to the ceiling thanking every deity that there was that he had her and that she understood.

Harry had thought the next generation of Marauders being called 'Teddy - Bear' was hilarious, but a boy that named his child Albus Severus, poor sod, didn't get a vote.

Sirius rolled over stretching out his aching limbs. It had been the full moon the night before, and he had dutifully taken on Padfoot form to guard his oldest friend. After a night of roughhousing that he regularly protested he wasn't 'getting far too old for' he crawled into bed amongst his sleeping family just after dawn.

Bear always climbed in with Hermione when he wasn't there, now nearly four his first bit of magic had been to open the latch on his crib alone. Hermione had been terrified, but as the little man only ever used the advantage to creep in with them, Sirius couldn't see the harm in it.

Sirius glanced over at the clock surprised to see it was almost ten, he knew he must have been exhausted if he hadn't woken up when they left; the little man wasn't quiet at the best of times let alone when he was excited.

Sirius was beginning to debate breakfast when he heard the door slam below and a smile lit up his face. Dragging on a pair of cleanish jeans he flew down the stairs in anticipation of a _proper_ good morning, hoping for an admonishment for Hermione for 'forgetting' his shirt. He had been married to the woman for five years, and at times she still reacted just as strongly as she had when they were secretly dating. Just last week she had violently blushed when he had deliberately put on leather trousers that in truth were a little small for him.

Sirius rubbed his hands together as he followed the familiar sounds of raucousness coming from the kitchen. He opened the door with a broad grin stretching his mouth until his eyes settled on the scene before him, and his easy smile fell away into a vacant expression. Hermione was positioned in front of the stove, chatting away to Bear, his son, who was crawling on the floor, giggling like mad, petting a dog, a large, black dog.

"Hi love," Hermione called over her shoulder. "Look who we found in the park, poor thing didn't have any tags or anything. I wasn't sure what to do, but Bear was _insistent_ that 'dog' came back with us." She said with a laugh in her voice and a roll of her eyes, using that special tone she had when she made an 'our child' reference though at that moment Sirius didn't feel much like laughing. He couldn't take his eyes off the little tableau on the floor.

Hermione, sensing his sudden deflation turned from her place and looked at him, her head falling to the side sending her windswept hair everywhere. "That's okay isn't it?"

"Of course it is" he answered, finding his voice and stepping forward to ruffle his boy's hair before pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "It's just... well... you have to be worried about the diseases these strays are carrying."

"Diseases?" Hermione repeated a single eyebrow quirking.

"Yeah," he answered, "come to think of it I don't think Bear should go near him until we know it's safe."

"Until we know it's safe," she repeated, her mouth pressed into a small smile.

"You know me poppet, safety first and all that," he assured her sweeping forward to grip his son around the waist and throw him over his shoulder almost deafening himself as Bear screamed in his ear. "Come on little man, off to get washed up; Mummy's nearly got breakfast ready."

 _Not even a flicker of her eyes to my chest_ , he grumbled to himself.

* * *

The next day Sirius woke up alone, _again_. Something he found he had no desire to become a trend. Once more hearing noises downstairs he dragged himself out of bed rushing about until he made it to the first-floor corridor and he suddenly stilled. The sounds were clearer now, and if he pricked his ear below the boisterous chuckles, he was sure he could detect the occasional wet splash. He shook his head. Bear's baths were usually something they did as a family, Hermione and him, _always together_. At first, it had been for purely practical reasons; it frequently took both of them to barter with Bear convincingly enough for him to _willingly_ submit to washing. Then once they had tricked him, not that Hermione called it that, they both needed to be there to make sure he was distracted enough to stay in. But it had long since become one of their things, one of those little tiny meaningless things that Hermione taught him how, like it was easy, like _normal families_ did.

He felt a pang in his chest as he continued walking down the corridor, feeling extremely put out he pushed the bathroom door open forcefully and stood in the doorway trying not to clench his fists, there was a bath in process alright, but if was for the dog.

"What are you doing?" he asked crisply.

Hermione looked up, and he felt his ire crumble entirely. He hated that she always looked so fucking adorable; it was incredibly difficult to stay suitable angry at someone when they had suds layered all over the bridge of their perfect, freckled nose.

"Well you said about the diseases" she replied, her eyes far too innocent, slight lilt to her voice. "We thought we better wash him."

"It's a him!" he shouted enraged beyond belief.

"It's a him," she confirmed moving to pull Bear's sopping wet t-shirt off. Little man might as well have been in the bath given the puddle that was forming under him.

"Oh course it bloody is!" He mumbled as he walked back into the corridor.

* * *

He went out of the house for a few hours after that, choosing to spend a bit of time on his bike. He didn't get out on it as much anymore, spending more of his time working on the miniature one that he had cajoled Hermione into giving to Bear, though not until he was five. As he soared through the air, he let the wind on his face soothe his irritation at the fucking sad-eyed interloper currently weaselling its smelly way into his house, and into his family.

When he finally retreated home, Sirius went into the kitchen to make lunch finding Bear sitting on Hermione's lap occupied with paints that he was splashing around with the kind of careless purpose you only see with a toddler, blessedly, without a dog in sight.

"Daddy, help us!" Bear called, stretching out his little paint-covered fingers towards him as he stepped past the table.

He dropped a kiss amongst his dark curls before brushing his mouth against Hermione's paint spattered temple. "What are you doing little man?"

"We making signs for dog" Bear responded with a broad, proud grin, and Sirius felt the hours of relaxation seeping from his skin as he stiffened. He looked down at parchment in front of them where an erratic poster was taking shape. 'LOST DOG' was printed in shaky letters at the top, Hermione's pencil guides visible underneath, and there was even a picture in the middle with the blasted animal's tongue hanging out.

"Where did you get the picture from?" he asked icily trying to resist the urge to crumple the thing into a tiny ball. Not that he would have done, he knew he would likely upset the boy and even if it didn't Hermione would hex him into total oblivion if he even looked to be thinking about it.

She looked up at him curiously, in the way she usually did when he had said something idiotic. "We had to take one, where else would we have got it from?"

Sirius picked up a pasty that had been left on the side looking to beat yet another hasty retreat. "One for the family album," he muttered before stomping out into the garden. Before the door closed, he was sure he could hear Hermione laugh.

* * *

"Padfoot you're acting like there's another man in your house."

Sirius levelled a withering glare at his friend. He had asked Remus out for a drink for moral support; that dog was an intruder, a wet nosed trespasser, a furry usurper that was coming in and taking all of his family's attention from right under his nose.

"For all I know there is," he muttered petulantly, and when Remus rolled his eyes for the third time in half an hour, he felt compelled to defend himself. "It could be another animagus!" he all but roared, slamming his tumbler back onto the bar.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Well, it's not, is it? I'm pretty sure the wards on your house would have detected that."

 _Fuck_ , Sirius thought, not that he really believed it was another actual, human bloke in the house but that was an excellent point. It looked as if he wasn't going to be able to hide behind the 'possible animagus' thing if Hermione asked why he was mopping.

"Fine, but she said it was a _he_ " he protested, not sure why that bit even bothered him, he was fairly certain he would be equally put out with a bitch in the house.

"It's a _dog_ Padfoot," Remus sighed rubbing his temples and looking almost as old at that moment as he had during the second war.

"Well, what would you do if you came home to find another wolf being coddled by Dora and Teddy." _Got you on the ropes now!_

Remus laid his head on the surface of the table. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Drink up, as everything is going upside down at the moment maybe it will render you coherent."

* * *

Sirius stumbled through the floo later, not nearly as drunk as he would have liked and blinked at the silence of the house. A quick glance at the clock as he walked through the hall showed it to be only just after nine but normally Hermione would let Bear stay up on his fortnightly night out with Remus.

Knowing the bedrooms would probably be empty he walked into the library, and as soon as he popped his head around the door he spotted telltale dark brown curls pooling over the cushions at the end of the sofa. As he walked closer he watched the flames from the dying fire illuminate Hermione's delicate face, fast asleep with Bear cuddled up next to her, his little grey motorbike pyjamas riding up on one leg. Sirius tried to enjoy the sound of the rhythmic breathing, as their chests rose and fell together but the vision was ruined when he heard a faint grunt from the end of the sofa.

Sirius couldn't believe it, there was the fucking dog, again, fucking asleep in _his place_. He scowled at the sight, just about holding the growl in his chest. Reaching forward he picked up his son, pulling him against his torso and securing his arm around him as he cuddled into his chest. His little nose, Hermione's nose, snuffled and Sirius soothed him gently shushing him back to sleep as he yawned.

When they made it into Bear's room he flicked on the nightlight, the lamp shade with the tiny otter and slightly larger dog glowing as he dropped him onto his constellation bedspread. Pausing to push his hair out of his face he leant down and pressed a kiss to his soft forehead before rising, tiptoeing out and shutting the door.

When he made it back downstairs Hermione had shifted slightly, her brow puckering into a little frown almost as if she knew Bear wasn't there, even in sleep.

"Love," he whispered gently, kneeling down in front of the sofa, "You can't sleep here."

Hermione stirred, her eyes blinking drowsily. "Where is…" noticing her son's absence she sat up abruptly and Sirius reached forward to put his hands on her shoulders, she was better, since the war. But the reflexes never really left, he knew that himself.

"I've put him to bed" he reassured, moving up to sit on the sofa himself and pulling her onto his lap.

"What's wrong?" she asked a few moments later, and he sighed. Despite her steadfast loathing for Divination, the woman could have been a fucking oracle.

"Love, it's a dog," he said resentfully.

"Yes, Sirius I'm aware of what the animal I brought home is commonly referred to as" she responded dryly, and he shot his hand to her hip to pinch her softly in rebuke.

"A _black_ dog" he emphasised with an exasperated whine, "And Bear just seems to love him, can't stop himself from going loopy even when it's just sat there doing fuck all."

Hermione shifted away from him, and he made a small growl of protest, which she ignored, arching to click her back. "Not as much as he loves snuffles" she replied confidently.

"You sure about that? Snuffles is also a black dog."

"But a black dog that is also his _Dad._ Who he hero worships."

"He does?"

Hermione yawned, leaning back against him and burrowing against his neck. "You know he does" she replied, her words breathing against his shoulder. "You were a marauder" he sniffed loudly, "fine! ARE a marauder."

"Thank you," he muttered petulantly.

Hermione sat up again, placing both her hands on his cheeks. "You have tattoos, Molly is always angry at you, you broke out of Azkaban, you came back from the dead… Sirius, a lost puppy, isn't going to compete with that."

He sagged against the seat his hand drifting up to rub circles on her cheek still warm from the fire. "And you?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure I can replace my husband with a puppy, not that I've ever truly given it much thought."

"Am I being stupid?" he asked as he sensed her irritation.

"Yes," she responded but she nuzzled against his jaw, and he felt the sensation travel down his spine.

"But you're not angry." He hedged.

"No, it's quite endearing really."

"Witch," he huffed.

She smirked at him. "And in any case, you don't need to worry anymore. We had an answer to the posters today."

"Oh?"

"Yep" she replied popping the 'p' in that way that she knew, she just fucking knew, always got to him. "That's why he was asleep in here; we are taking him back tomorrow."

Sirius tried not to let his unbridled delight show on his face. However, the whoop of ecstasy he released accompanied by his fist in the air might have given the game away.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I love you, Sirius Black, even though you are a ridiculous man, sometimes dog."

"Best dog," he challenged raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"Sirius…" she whined looking incredibly put out.

"Say it Hermione, or else how will I know?" he asked in an innocent tone that they both knew he had absolutely no business employing.

Hermione looked up at the ceiling as if questioning every major life decision that had brought her to this point. "Sirius Black, I love you, and you are… The. Best. Dog" she finished through gritted teeth.

He kissed her then, forcing his lips against hers until she stopped feigning disinterested and melted against him. "Why thank you for the unsolicited compliment, Hermione," he teased, and he smiled as she fought to keep her mouth set in a firm line.

Sirius pushed some of her wayward curls from out of her face and kissed her side of her neck, just below her ear. "I love you too, Mrs Black."


End file.
